Cenchrus biflorus
| Cenchrus biflorus | ||||||||||||
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Cenchrus biflorus in Benin |
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Cenchrus biflorus | ||||||||||||
| Roxb. |
Cenchrus biflorus is a species of the genus prickly grass ( Cenchrus ) withinthe sweet grass family (Poaceae). It is particularly common in semi-arid and arid areas of Africa and Asia .
description
Cenchrus biflorus is an annual herbaceous plant that grows in loose clumps . The rising stalks reach a height of about 1 meter. The leaves are arranged alternately on the stalks . The flat, linear leaf blade is 2 to 25, rarely up to 35 cm long and 2 to 7, rarely up to 10 mm wide and ends in a thread-like tip. The ligula is made up of a series of hairs.
The inflorescence is a 2 to 15 cm long and 9 to 12 mm wide panicle . One to three spikelets are enclosed by a thorny envelope . The angular spikelet axis is wavy. The covering with numerous thorns is egg-shaped and 4 to 11 mm long. The inner thorns are erect and grown together at the base, the tip of the thorn bent back is covered with hairs pointing backwards; the outer thorns are shorter and stick out. The lanceolate, pointed spikelets are 3.5 to 6 mm long. They consist of two glumes , which are shorter than the spikelet, and usually have two flowers. The lower of the two flowers is male or sterile with a membranous lemma as long as the spikelet. The upper flower is hermaphroditic with thin, leathery, similarly long lemma. There are three stamens in a flower . The bald, upper ovary ends in two hairy scars . The fruits are caryopses flattened lengthways from front to back with a length of 2 to 2.5 mm and a width of 1.5 to 2 mm.
In Cenchrus biflorus on gametes with a haploid chromosome set, counted chromosome numbers of n = 15, 16, 17, 18 and 24 were detected.
Occurrence
The distribution area of Cenchrus biflorus extends from tropical Africa over the Arabian Peninsula and Iran to the Indian subcontinent . The occurrence is particularly dense in the Sahel zone and the southern Sahara . In addition, the grass species was introduced in Australia and North America , among others . It is found mainly in areas up to an altitude of 1300 meters with a semi-arid or arid climate and an annual precipitation of 250 to 650 mm. It prefers dry, sandy soils and locations affected by soil degradation .
Systematics
Cenchrus biflorus belongs to the genus of the prickly grass ( Cenchrus ). It is closely related to the lamp cleaner grasses . The first description of Cenchrus biflorus done posthumously in 1820 by the British botanist William Roxburgh , whose Flora Indica only five years was published after his death. The type specimen came from the Coromandel coast . Synonyms for Cenchrus biflorus Roxb. are for example: Elymus caput-medusae Forssk. , Cenchrus catharticus Schltdl. and Cenchrus catharticus Delile .
Common names
Common names , especially in French-speaking regions, are cram-cram and in English-speaking regions Indian sandbur . Other common names are Bhurat and Bhurut in India , Haskaneet in Sudan , K'arangiya in Hausa and Ngibbi in Kanuri .
use
In the Sahel region, Cenchrus biflorus is important as fodder. As a young plant - as well as when its thorny spikelets have fallen off again - it is used by the cattle for grazing. In addition, it can be mowed several times during the rainy season to produce hay and silage that can be kept until the end of the dry season.
The grains are edible for humans and are particularly rich in proteins and fats compared to other grains . They are used accordingly as food, but mostly only in times of food shortages. The grains are mashed and eaten raw and processed into porridge or - in Darfur , Kordofan and Rajasthan - into bread. The roots are an ingredient in traditional aphrodisiacs .
swell
Individual evidence
- ↑ Cenchrus biflorus in the Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN), USDA , ARS , National Genetic Resources Program. National Germplasm Resources Laboratory, Beltsville, Maryland. Retrieved March 13, 2015.
- ↑ a b c d e f M. Brink: Cenchrus biflorus Roxb. In: M. Brink, G. Belay (Ed.): Plant Resources of Tropical Africa 1. Cereals and pulses . PROTA Foundation / Backhuys Publishers / CTA, Wageningen / Leiden 2006, ISBN 90-5782-170-2 , p. 40–41 ( limited preview in Google Book search).
- ↑ Cenchrus biflorus , chromosome number at Tropicos.org. Missouri Botanical Garden, St. Louis, accessed March 13, 2015.
- ^ A b William Roxburgh: Flora Indica, or, Descriptions of Indian Plants . 2nd Edition. Vol. IW Thacker and Co / Parbury, Allen and Co, Calcutta / London 1820, p. 233-234 ( online ).
- ^ A b Robert Freedman: Poaceae or Graminae. In: Famine Foods. Purdue University, accessed March 12, 2015 .
literature
- M. Brink: Cenchrus biflorus Roxb. In: M. Brink, G. Belay (Ed.): Plant Resources of Tropical Africa 1. Cereals and pulses . PROTA Foundation / Backhuys Publishers / CTA, Wageningen / Leiden 2006, ISBN 90-5782-170-2 , p. 40–41 ( limited preview in Google Book search).
